Nuclear power plant with greenery and service vehicle in front, located near the coast.
South Africa has initiated an ambitious recruitment drive to lure back nuclear engineers—particularly those currently working at the UAE’s Barakah plant—as it advances a $120 billion energy roadmap. Some of these engineers left South Africa after the 2010 collapse of the Pebble Bed Modular Reactor project. The government aims to add 5,200 MW of nuclear capacity by 2039 to stabilize a grid long plagued by outages and reduce the country’s reliance on coal. However, the country lacks enough skilled labor to pull off the plan, necessitating the recruitment drive. Beyond the lack of expertise, the project also faces legal challenges from environmental groups and public resistance from residents of the target sites for the new reactors.
Semafor